Dawn of the Code War

The inside story of how America’s enemies launched a cyber war against us-and how we’ve learned to fight back

With each passing year, the internet-linked attacks on America’s interests have grown in both frequency and severity. Overmatched by our military, countries like North Korea, China, Iran, and Russia have found us vulnerable in cyberspace. The “Code War” is upon us.

In this dramatic book, former Assistant Attorney General John P. Carlin takes readers to the front lines of a global but little-understood fight as the Justice Department and the FBI chases down hackers, online terrorist recruiters, and spies. Today, as our entire economy goes digital, from banking to manufacturing to transportation, the potential targets for our enemies multiply. This firsthand account is both a remarkable untold story and a warning of dangers yet to come.

What's Inside

Reader Reviews

Praise

"John Carlin has written a crucial book- for practitioners and laymen alike-about the evolution, impacts, and implications of the abuses we've all witnessed, and many have personally experienced, in the cyber domain. Cyber is yet another example of the dual-edged nature of technology: huge benefit to mankind on one hand, and the potential for great harm on the other. And, unique to this book, is the historical description of how we have tried to respond to the harmful activities that occur all too frequently in the cyber domain. An interesting read, with vivid detail. John represents a superb amalgam of legal insight and great writing skill. A must read in my view."

—James Clapper, New York Times bestselling author and former Director of National Intelligence

"This book is thrilling, important, and deeply fascinating. Cybersecurity is key to modern life: an imperative for us as a nation and each of us personally. It's about protecting our personal data, our businesses, and our democracy. John Carlin has been on the front lines, defending us against attacks from China, North Korea, Russia, Syria, and criminal gangs. The riveting stories of these secret battles for our digital safety teach us much about what America can-and must-do to protect itself."

—Walter Isaacson, New York Times bestselling author of Leonardo Da Vinci

"By turns electrifying, illuminating, inspirational, and difficult to put down, [Dawn of the Code War] describes how 'criminals, terrorists, and spies' have used the Internet for their gain, and how the U.S. government along with international allies, has assessed and addressed these threats... Similar in energy to Carl Bernstein's All the Presidents Men, it informs of current cyberthreats while offering stirring success stories and cautions about the future of the code war... A deeply intriguing look into cybersecurity threats facing the United States that will fascinate anyone interested in technology and/or political intrigue."

"Given the threats Carlin enumerates, including election hacking and the theft of intelligence files, responses "created and refined in real-time" are increasingly necessary-but not forthcoming. Given the lack of developed policy, if you're alarmed by the thought of Russian election tampering in 2016, you're likely to be even more so come the midterms-and by this dire book."

In the News

This spring, FBI director Christopher Wray stated in public what people in cybersecurity circles had been seeing for a while: China is back to its old tricks. It is once again infiltrating US computer systems and stealing information at a massive scale. “There’s no country that’s even close,” Wray told NBC News in March this year. “We’re talking about big damages,” President Trump recently told Reuters. “We’re talking about numbers that you haven’t even thought about.”

Watch John Carlin, author of DAWN OF THE CODE WAR, talk about cyber terrorism, the cyber war, and how we're fighting back against election hacking, Chinese espionage and more. All this comes on the heels of the first ever arrest of a Chinese hacker brought to the United States to face charges.

Justice Department officials said the indictment is the latest example of China seeking to develop its economy at the expense of American firms and know-how. Though China has often used computer hacking to filch secrets, this case relied on traditional espionage techniques, including the attempted recruitment of corporate insiders.